What are the treatments for ovarian cancer?

Female compatriots, do you know about ovarian cancer? Do you want to know how much it hurts us? Do you have ovarian cancer and want to know how to treat it? Today we will introduce the knowledge about this in detail. Ovarian cancer is one of the common tumors of the female reproductive organs, and its incidence rate ranks third after cervical cancer and uterine body cancer. However, deaths from ovarian cancer rank first among all types of gynecological tumors, posing a serious threat to women's lives. Here are some ways to treat ovarian cancer, I hope it will be helpful to you.

1. Surgical treatment

During surgery, a detailed exploration should be performed first, including peritoneal lavage, palpation of pelvic and abdominal organs and pelvic and retroperitoneal lymph nodes, and multiple biopsies of the diaphragm, peritoneum, and greater omentum, in order to accurately stage the tumor. Surgical methods are divided into radical surgery and conservative surgery that preserves fertility. The scope of thorough surgery includes removal of bilateral adnexa, uterus, greater omentum, appendectomy and pelvic and retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. For patients with extensive tumor implantation and metastasis in the pelvis, it is recommended to perform tumor cell reduction surgery as much as possible. Williams et al. reported that the complete remission rate of postoperative chemotherapy was 83% for patients with complete surgical resection, 59% for patients with almost complete resection (residual tumor diameter <2 cm), and 42% for patients with partial resection (residual tumor diameter >2 cm). Therefore, although malignant germ cell tumors are sensitive to combined chemotherapy, removing the tumor as completely as possible during surgery is still the key to successful treatment.

2. Chemotherapy

Because ovarian tumors spread very early, surgery is not enough to remove the lesions in most cases, and the effectiveness and application of radiotherapy are also very limited. Therefore, systemic chemotherapy is an important auxiliary treatment method. For some advanced patients, the tumor can be reduced after chemotherapy, creating favorable conditions for subsequent surgery. There is no unified chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of malignant ovarian tumors. The principles are: ① High-dose intermittent medication and small-dose continuous medication are better; the former means that each course of treatment takes about 1 week, with an interval of about 3 to 4 weeks, which can not only achieve an effective anti-tumor effect, but also help the body eliminate toxicity and restore immune function. ② Combination chemotherapy is more effective than single chemotherapy: In modern times, there is a trend towards combination therapy, but it should be noted that combination chemotherapy has more severe toxic reactions. ③ Based on drug sensitivity tests, selecting sensitive chemotherapy drugs can prolong the patient's survival time. ④ Develop different chemotherapy plans according to tissue type.

3. Radioimmunotherapy

The radiosensitivity of ovarian malignant tumors varies greatly. Ovarian endodermal sinus tumor, immature teratoma, and embryonal carcinoma are the least sensitive, ovarian epithelial carcinoma and granulosa cell carcinoma are moderately sensitive, and dysgerminoma is the most sensitive. Most tumors can be controlled by radiotherapy after surgery. Since ovarian cancer metastasizes to the abdominal cavity early, the irradiation range includes the abdominal cavity and pelvic cavity. The liver and kidney areas should be protected to avoid radiation damage. The radiation dose to the entire peritoneal cavity is 3000 cGY to 5000 cGY/6 to 8 weeks.

Internal irradiation refers to the injection of gold (198AU) or phosphorus (32P) into the abdominal cavity, which can make the abdominal surface reach a dose that is difficult to achieve with external irradiation. Due to its limited penetration, it can be used to treat superficial metastases in the abdominal cavity, microscopic residual tumors, or stage I tumors that rupture during surgery, in order to improve the five-year survival rate. The disadvantage is that the abdominal cavity must be free of adhesions to ensure even distribution of the radioactive isotope; otherwise, it may cause intestinal damage, leading to serious consequences. Generally, the amount of 198AU is 120-150 millicuries, and that of 32P is 10-20 millicuries.

3. Massage therapy:

(1) The patient lies on his back and the doctor sits or stands beside him. The doctor massages his lower abdomen 10 times with one palm. The technique should be deep and gentle. Then, the doctor applies palm vibration for 3 to 5 minutes.

(2) Place your thumbs on the Xuehai acupoints, and use the remaining four fingers to press and knead the muscles above the knees. Press, hold, and rub the muscles simultaneously for 3 to 5 minutes.

(3) Press and pluck the Sanyinjiao and Yinlingquan points for 1 minute each.

(4) The patient lies prone, and the doctor presses and massages the eight acupoints on the lumbar sacral region with one palm, rubbing and kneading them up and down, repeatedly until the heat penetrates the lower abdomen.

(5) The doctor puts the index and middle fingers of one hand together, slightly bends them and presses the patient's Changqiang acupoint 5 to 10 times.

(6) Massage the patient’s Shenshu and Mingmen acupoints for 1 minute each.

The above are some treatments for ovarian cancer, which include both Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, and are very effective. We must protect our physical health. Protecting physical health is the most basic principle in our lives. Therefore, in order to say goodbye to ovarian cancer, I hope everyone will strengthen their understanding of this aspect and actively cooperate with treatment.